This Summer I’m Embracing Lemon Girl Style

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This year summer style feels split: To be on trend, it seems as though you either need to embrace bright Barbie pink, become a TikTok-viral tomato girl, or opt for minimalist quiet luxury.

And colorwise, these aesthetics make sense: Reds and pinks are common in sexy seasonal ensembles, while understated neutrals retain less heat than darker hues. But what if I told you that a whole new aesthetic trend, corresponding palette, and dare I say way of life has been simmering in the background this whole time? Well, it has, and it’s my new summer style obsession: lemon girl summer.

Bold, bright, fresh, and fun, the lemon girl lifestyle combines the lighthearted optimism of dopamine dressing and manifestation manicures while simultaneously embracing tomato girl’s Southern European vacation style. It’s a very welcome addition to the (occasionally quite hard to navigate) world of aesthetic trends, if I do say so myself.

“The emergence of the lemon girl is a natural progression of growing awareness around aesthetics,” Yarden Horwitz, cofounder of data-aggregation platform Spate, which tracks consumer trends, tells Glamour. “It also aligns with the idea of dopamine beauty that has persisted following the end of lockdown: People share and continue to share their enthusiasm for a reopened world by wearing bold colors like lemon yellow.”

Addison Cain, Spate’s beauty strategy and innovation manager, agrees, pointing to quiet luxury’s minimalism as something that may have partially prompted this rise in over-the-top pigment.

“For everything, there’s an equal and opposite reaction,” she says. “We’re seeing lemon girl style alongside quiet luxury, so I think this is an answer to that. I also think we’re seeing this whole Italian girl summer, where everybody, even if they’re not going to Europe, wants the vibe of being in Europe.”

The European influence on lemon girl is undeniable—in fact, I developed my personal passion for the look while in France last month. I visited the town of Menton, known for its large lemons, and so happened to be wearing a bright yellow dress I’d had to emergency-purchase from a French Urban Outfitters (long story). Surrounded by storefront citrus symbolism in this yellow-tinted town, I joked that one of the locals might confuse me for one of the lemons, or that I’d fade into the background à la Homer Simpson. But then it dawned on me: I’m getting really bored with pink. Maybe I should be a large lemon! Cut to: me at my work, one month later, dressed like a highlighter.

Upon my return home, I was pleased to discover that Doeneseya Bates, one of my favorite beauty content creators, had started incorporating lemon accessories and bright yellow shades into her summertime looks too. Feeling vindicated, I asked why she thinks the lemon girl lifestyle is on the rise.

“Summer is bold, bright, and colorful, and yellow is the color of happiness,” Bates tells Glamour. “I believe fruit-inspired trends are showing up more in fashion and makeup because we’re trying to embody that vibrancy.”

It’s true that lemon girl summer is not specific to clothing: pops of yellow and neon green have been making their way into makeup looks for months, and Cain loves KVD Beauty Super Pomade for creating a bright yellow eye makeup look. Spate has also seen a growing interest in lemon-scented perfume, saying, “I’ve always associated citrus with ‘fresh and clean,’ so when it comes to summer skin care and fragrances, it just makes sense to incorporate citrus scents and ingredients for that light, fresh, and clean vibe.” Considering how oppressively hot and humid the season has been, you can’t exactly blame us for craving something refreshing.

The fashion-to-beauty-and-fragrance pipeline is a familiar tale in terms of aesthetics. This is mainly because it makes things easier on the consumer, which is part of why finding one’s aesthetic is as popular as it currently is.

“It’s much easier to say, ‘I want to subscribe to this vibe, and I’m going to follow this template,’ versus having an overwhelming number of trends to follow,” Cain says. “Instead, you can say, ‘Okay, lemon girl summer: I know that I want to buy this citrus fragrance and have a nice yellow dress.’ It makes trends digestible when we can associate them with something that we are comfortable and familiar with.”

Also of note? My infamous manifestation manicure—the one I got just before finding out I got this job, in fact—was yellow! I was always convinced it was good luck, and according to astrologers, that’s not totally off base. “By wearing different colors, one can manifest their reality; this is called glamour and color magic,” Lisa Stardust, astrologer and writer of The Love Deck, tells Glamour, noting that yellow represents optimism and courage.

My favorite part of lemon girl summer, however, is the fact that it’s applicable to all five senses. In addition to wearing yellow clothing and makeup, one can opt for lemon- and citrus-infused skin care, candles, fragrances, and even beverages—like the “limoncello, prosecco, and scoop of lemon sorbet” drink that’s going viral on TikTok. So whether you’re a fashion girlie, beauty buff, or fragrance fanatic, you can live your best lemon girl summer however it feels right for you.

When life gives you lemon girl summer, make lemonade and embrace it. Shop everything you need to live your best lemon girl summer below.